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HF2646 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to certain activities associated with foreign entities in the state, providing penalties, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 752 .)

A bill for an act relating to certain activities associated with foreign entities in the state, providing penalties, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 752 .)

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Last action
2026-03-18
Official status
Fiscal note .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to certain activities associated with foreign entities in the state, providing penalties, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 752 .)

A bill for an act relating to certain activities associated with foreign entities in the state, providing penalties, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 752 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to certain activities associated with foreign entities in the state, providing penalties, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 752 .)

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-18 Iowa Legislature

    Fiscal note .

  2. 2026-02-19 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, placed on calendar. H.J. 351 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to certain activities associated with foreign entities in the state, providing penalties, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 752 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
House

File

2646

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

2646

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

PUBLIC

SAFETY

(SUCCESSOR

TO

HSB

752)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

certain

activities

associated

with

foreign

1

entities

in

the

state,

providing

penalties,

and

making

2

penalties

applicable.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

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2646

DIVISION

I

1

DRONES

——

SECURITY

AND

PROCUREMENT

2

Section

1.

NEW

SECTION

.

8A.311C

Remotely

piloted

3

aircraft

——

procurement

——

limitations

——

state

and

political

4

subdivisions.

5

The

state

or

a

political

subdivision

of

the

state

shall

6

not

purchase,

lease,

or

operate

a

remotely

piloted

aircraft,

7

as

defined

in

section

715E.1,

that

is

manufactured,

in

8

whole

or

in

part,

by

a

company

listed

on

the

covered

list

9

developed

pursuant

to

47

C.F.R.

§1.50002

and

published

by

the

10

public

safety

and

homeland

security

bureau

of

the

federal

11

communications

commission.

12

Sec.

2.

NEW

SECTION

.

715E.3A

Aggravated

intrusion

by

use

of

13

a

remotely

piloted

aircraft

——

offense.

14

A

person

commits

aggravated

intrusion

by

the

use

of

a

15

remotely

piloted

aircraft

if

the

person

knowingly

controls

the

16

flight

of

a

remotely

piloted

aircraft

within

four

hundred

feet

17

of

a

power

plant,

water

treatment

facility,

or

national

guard

18

facility,

and

the

remotely

piloted

aircraft

was

manufactured

19

outside

of

the

United

States.

A

person

who

commits

aggravated

20

intrusion

by

the

use

of

a

remotely

piloted

aircraft

is

guilty

21

of

a

class

“D”

felony.

22

Sec.

3.

REMOTELY

PILOTED

AIRCRAFT

——

FLEET

23

REPLACEMENT.

Each

state

entity

and

political

subdivision

of

24

the

state

that

owns,

leases,

or

operates

a

remotely

piloted

25

aircraft,

as

defined

in

section

715E.1,

shall

develop

a

plan

to

26

replace

all

remotely

piloted

aircraft

that

were

manufactured,

27

in

whole

or

in

part,

by

a

company

listed

on

the

covered

list

28

developed

pursuant

to

47

C.F.R.

§1.50002

and

published

by

the

29

public

safety

and

homeland

security

bureau

of

the

federal

30

communications

commission,

with

remotely

piloted

aircraft

31

listed

on

the

blue

list

of

the

federal

defense

contract

32

management

agency.

33

Sec.

4.

REMOTELY

PILOTED

AIRCRAFT

——

PROTOCOL

AUDIT.

The

34

chief

information

officer

of

the

department

of

management

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shall

conduct

an

audit

of

the

transmission

protocols

utilized

1

by

remotely

piloted

aircraft,

as

defined

in

section

715E.1,

2

operated

by

state

entities

and

political

subdivisions

of

the

3

state

to

ensure

compliance

with

the

secure-by-design

standards

4

of

the

federal

cybersecurity

and

infrastructure

security

agency

5

with

respect

to

data

encryption

and

server

localization.

6

DIVISION

II

7

FOREIGN

AGENTS

——

REGISTRATION

8

Sec.

5.

NEW

SECTION

.

68B.37

Foreign

agent

registration

——

9

penalties.

10

1.

a.

A

foreign

principal

or

agent

of

a

foreign

principal

11

shall

register

with

the

board

within

forty-eight

hours

after

12

engaging

in

lobbying

or

political

consulting

in

this

state.

13

b.

A

foreign

principal

or

agent

of

a

foreign

principal

14

that

engages

in

lobbying

or

political

consulting

in

this

state

15

shall

file

with

the

board

a

copy

of

each

contract,

compensation

16

schedule,

and

communication

log

related

to

foreign-funded

17

influence

operations

targeting

legislators

or

executive

branch

18

agencies

in

this

state.

19

c.

Registration

as

a

foreign

principal

or

agent

of

a

foreign

20

principal

pursuant

to

the

federal

Foreign

Agents

Registration

21

Act

of

1938,

as

amended,

22

U.S.C.

§611

et

seq.,

does

not

22

satisfy

the

requirements

of

this

subsection.

23

2.

The

board

shall

impose

a

civil

penalty,

to

be

deposited

24

in

the

general

fund

of

the

state,

of

one

hundred

dollars

per

25

day

on

a

person

who

fails

to

register

as

required

by

subsection

26

1,

to

a

maximum

of

five

thousand

dollars

per

violation.

27

3.

For

purposes

of

this

section,

“foreign

principal”

and

28

“agent

of

a

foreign

principal”

mean

the

same

as

those

terms

are

29

defined

in

the

federal

Foreign

Agents

Registration

Act

of

1938,

30

as

amended,

22

U.S.C.

§611

et

seq.

31

DIVISION

III

32

INTERNATIONAL

DIRECTIVES

——

STATE

SOVEREIGNTY

33

Sec.

6.

NEW

SECTION

.

1.19

International

directives

——

34

legislative

approval

——

audit.

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1.

A

treaty,

accord,

emergency

guideline,

or

other

document

1

issued

by

the

world

health

organization,

united

nations,

or

2

world

economic

forum

does

not

have

the

force

of

law

in

this

3

state

unless

the

accord,

emergency

guideline,

or

other

document

4

is

affirmatively

adopted

as

law

in

this

state

by

the

general

5

assembly.

6

2.

The

state

of

Iowa

or

a

political

subdivision

of

the

7

state

of

Iowa

shall

not

use

tax

revenues

or

direct

personnel

8

to

enforce

mandates

derived

from

a

treaty,

accord,

emergency

9

guideline,

or

other

document

issued

by

an

international

10

organization.

11

3.

Each

department,

authority,

and

agency

of

this

12

state

shall

annually

conduct

a

review

of

all

memoranda

of

13

understanding

entered

into

by

the

department,

authority,

or

14

agency

to

ensure

that

the

department,

authority,

or

agency

is

15

not

using

any

resources

of

the

state

to

support

international

16

regulatory

goals

that

have

not

been

adopted

as

law

in

this

17

state

by

the

general

assembly.

18

4.

The

state

of

Iowa

hereby

affirms,

pursuant

to

the

tenth

19

amendment

to

the

Constitution

of

the

United

States,

that

20

powers

relating

to

public

health

and

police

powers

in

this

21

state

reside

exclusively

with

the

state

of

Iowa

and

not

any

22

international

organization.

23

EXPLANATION

24

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

25

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

26

This

bill

relates

to

certain

activities

associated

with

27

foreign

entities

in

the

state.

28

DIVISION

I

——

DRONES

——

SECURITY

AND

PROCUREMENT.

The

29

bill

prohibits

the

state

or

a

political

subdivision

of

the

30

state

from

purchasing,

leasing,

or

operating

a

remotely

31

piloted

aircraft,

defined

as

a

self-propelled

vehicle

used

32

for

navigation

and

flight

that

is

controlled

by

the

use

of

an

33

electronic

system

and

is

not

designed

to

carry

a

human,

that

34

is

manufactured,

in

whole

or

in

part,

by

a

company

listed

on

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the

covered

list

published

by

the

public

safety

and

homeland

1

security

bureau

of

the

federal

communications

commission.

2

The

bill

creates

the

crime

of

aggravated

intrusion

by

the

3

use

of

a

remotely

piloted

aircraft,

which

a

person

commits

if

4

the

person

controls

the

flight

of

a

remotely

piloted

aircraft,

5

that

was

manufactured

outside

of

the

United

States,

within

400

6

feet

of

a

power

plant,

water

treatment

facility,

or

national

7

guard

facility.

A

person

who

commits

aggravated

intrusion

by

8

the

use

of

a

remotely

piloted

aircraft

is

guilty

of

a

class

“D”

9

felony.

A

class

“D”

felony

is

punishable

by

confinement

for

no

10

more

than

five

years

and

a

fine

of

at

least

$1,025

but

not

more

11

than

$10,245.

12

The

bill

requires

each

state

entity

and

political

13

subdivision

of

the

state

that

owns,

leases,

or

operates

a

14

remotely

piloted

aircraft

to

develop

a

plan

to

replace

all

15

remotely

piloted

aircraft

that

were

manufactured,

in

whole

or

16

in

part,

by

a

company

listed

on

the

covered

list

published

by

17

the

public

safety

and

homeland

security

bureau

of

the

federal

18

communications

commission

with

remotely

piloted

aircraft

listed

19

on

the

blue

list

of

the

federal

defense

contract

management

20

agency.

21

The

bill

also

requires

the

chief

information

officer

22

of

the

department

of

management

to

conduct

an

audit

of

the

23

transmission

protocols

utilized

by

remotely

piloted

aircraft

24

operated

by

state

entities

and

political

subdivisions

of

the

25

state

to

ensure

compliance

with

the

secure-by-design

standards

26

of

the

federal

cybersecurity

and

infrastructure

security

agency

27

with

respect

to

data

encryption

and

server

localization.

28

DIVISION

II

——

FOREIGN

AGENTS

——

REGISTRATION.

The

bill

29

requires

a

foreign

principal,

or

the

agent

of

a

foreign

30

principal,

as

defined

in

federal

law,

to

register

with

the

31

Iowa

ethics

and

campaign

disclosure

board

(board)

within

48

32

hours

after

engaging

in

lobbying

or

political

consulting

in

33

this

state,

as

well

as

to

file

with

the

board

a

copy

of

each

34

contract,

compensation

schedule,

and

communication

log

related

35

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2646

to

foreign-funded

influence

operations

targeting

legislators

1

or

executive

branch

agencies

in

this

state.

The

bill

directs

2

the

board

to

impose

a

civil

penalty

of

$100

per

day

on

a

person

3

who

does

not

register

as

required

by

the

bill,

up

to

a

maximum

4

penalty

of

$5,000

for

a

single

violation,

to

be

deposited

in

5

the

general

fund

of

the

state.

6

By

operation

of

law,

a

person

who

knowingly

and

7

intentionally

violates

this

provision

of

the

bill

is

guilty

of

8

a

serious

misdemeanor

and

may

be

reprimanded,

suspended,

or

9

dismissed

from

the

person’s

position

or

otherwise

sanctioned

10

(Code

section

68B.34).

A

serious

misdemeanor

is

punishable

by

11

confinement

for

no

more

than

one

year

and

a

fine

of

at

least

12

$430

but

not

more

than

$2,560.

13

DIVISION

III

——

INTERNATIONAL

DIRECTIVES

——

STATE

14

SOVEREIGNTY.

The

bill

specifies

that

a

treaty,

accord,

15

emergency

guideline,

or

other

document

issued

by

the

world

16

health

organization,

united

nations,

or

world

economic

17

forum

does

not

have

the

force

of

law

in

this

state

unless

18

it

is

affirmatively

adopted

as

law

in

this

state

by

the

19

general

assembly.

The

bill

also

prohibits

the

state

or

a

20

political

subdivision

of

the

state

from

using

tax

revenues

or

21

directing

personnel

to

enforce

mandates

derived

from

a

treaty,

22

accord,

emergency

guideline,

or

other

document

issued

by

an

23

international

organization.

The

bill

requires

each

department,

24

authority,

and

agency

of

this

state

to

annually

conduct

a

25

review

of

all

memoranda

of

understanding

to

ensure

that

the

26

entity

is

not

using

any

resources

of

the

state

to

support

27

international

regulatory

goals

that

have

not

been

adopted

as

28

law

in

this

state

by

the

general

assembly.

29

The

bill

affirms,

pursuant

to

the

10th

amendment

to

the

30

Constitution

of

the

United

States,

that

powers

relating

31

to

public

health

and

police

powers

in

this

state

reside

32

exclusively

with

the

state

of

Iowa

and

not

any

international

33

organization.

34

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